Cool Facts About The Olympics

February
12,
2018

The Olympics are here and the time as come where we get to witness athleticism, skill, and endurance at it’s peak. To celebrate this exciting time – we’ve collected some of the coolest facts about the Olympics. Check it out!

Women have been allowed to compete in the Olympics since 1900.However, it’s been a slow process. Women couldn’t compete in volleyball and luge until 1964, weigh lifting until 2000, and boxing until 2012.

The five rings represent the “five continents”: America, Asia, Africa, Europe and Australia.

Four athletes have won medals in both the Winter and the Summer Olympics.

During the 1936 Games, two pole-vaulters tied for second place and cut the silver and bronze medals in half and fused the two different halves together so that each of them had a half-silver and half-bronze medal.

The unlit Olympic torch has been taken to space several times.

In ancient Greece, athletes we male-only and were required to compete naked.

If the flame goes out at the Olympics, it can’t be lit with a regular lighter. It can only be reignited with a backup flame that has been lit in Greece.

Up until 1992, the Winter and Summer Olympics took place in the same year.

The first Olympics where all countries sent female athletes were the 2012 games.

Solo synchronized swimming, tug of war, rope climbing, hot air ballooning, dueling pistol, tandem bicycle, swimming obstacle race, and plunge for distance used to be sports that participated in the Olympics.

The colors of the rings (and background) of the Olympic logo were chosen because every nation’s flag contains at least one of the colors (blue, yellow, black, red, green).

In ancient Greece, the games lasted five or six months.

The U.S. has won the most medals throughout all of Olympic history. Gold medals have not been made of solid gold since 1912.

Abeb Bikila was the first African to win a gold medal and he did it in the Rome Olympics running a marathon barefoot.

The Olympics have been cancelled 4 times – each reason being war.

The youngest athlete to compete in the games was Dimitrios Loundras, a 10-year old gymnasts who won a bronze medal in in the Athens 1896 Olympics.

The oldest athlete to compete is Oscar Swahn. He won a gold medal in 1908 when he was 60-years-old and a silver medal when he was 72-years-old.

We hope you enjoyed these facts and most importantly, we hope you enjoy the Olympics!

Grab your family, grab some snacks, and be sure to tune-in. We hope the Olympics inspire you to get out and try new things, to get active, to go for your goals, and to show some serious country pride! #gousa